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Lost use of right leg

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Hi,my name is Sam,and I am new to this forum,I thought I would share my experience and see if there was anyone else tht has experienced the same as I have,about three months ago I was washing my face and came up from a crouching position,a sharp pain shot through my lower back,quickly going away,however a couple of days later I developed a pain in my right leg,mostly on top of my quad muscle,it slowly progressed getting worst and worst over a matter of a month or so,I could walk less and less each day,putting up with excruciating pain,then starting to limp.finally not able to walk as I started falling down.I took about 10 falls before I decided this is not working,and the last fall I took,I could not get myself up,and called 911,they took me to the local ER,they took XRays,and found nothing,a week went by,still in hospital until they finally decided to do an ultrasound,and found nothing,after three weeks in hospital they decided to do an MRI,well they finally had an aswer,and told me that the L3 disc was compressed and putting pressure on nerve that supplies the quad muscles.The odds for surgery they said were not good and they would not recommend it as there was only a 30% chance It would fix the problem.Ok,so now only thing they did was therapy for 20 min a day for my leg,Finally they told me there was nothing more they could do and that I needed intensive rehab,and transferred me to an intensive rehab hospital after being at the first hospital for a month,and confined to a wheelchair,as my right leg would just give out if I put any kind of pressure on it,I was in intensive rehab for two weeks and all they did was exercise the heck out of me and told me they could do nothing more as they were merely treating the synptoms and not addressing the disc problem,only people that would be able to do that they said were the private physiotherapists,so they discharged me a couple of weeks ago,and I have been going to physio three times a week,I still can't walk without the use of a walker,I have fallen many times even with the walker,and am not sure whether this is going to fix the problem or not,physio is using traction to try and relieve the pressure and try to decompress the disc.I have been on disability now for over two months,and am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience,my leg will not move on its own,and I have learned to lock my klnee to stand on it,but there is no quad muscle function so far.Please let me know if you have any suggestions or advice for me.

Just based on the amount of time you could stay in a hospital without a diagnosis and much of the other services you received.I dont what else we could add, since 3 weeks in the hospital and then they find an L3 problem , which they are telling you might now work... And then the other treatments you are taking, nothing helps..

I am not sure who could help you now

Ron DiLauro Veritas-Health Forums Manager I am not a medical professional. I comment on personal experiences

I lost the use of my left leg in much the same manner. They were able to fix my issue. I agree with Ron, it appears you aren't from the USA. I'm not sure I could offer you any advice... except that if they would do the surgery, 30% recovery is better than 100% not walking... I'm sorry you have been through all of this.

I lost the use of my left leg in much the same manner. They were able to fix my issue. I agree with Ron, it appears you aren't from the USA. I'm not sure I could offer you any advice... except that if they would do the surgery, 30% recovery is better than 100% not walking... I'm sorry you have been through all of this.

I am from Canada,and there is about a years wait for MRI's.that was the first thing my doctor ordered,and the hospital kept postponing it until there was no other way to find anything,I will be seeing my family doctor soon and ask for a specialists recommendation if things don't work out with physio soon.

Welcome to Spine Health.Have you read about herniated discs in the conditions of this website?

I am amazed that they took so long to do an MRI scan to see if there was nerve compression.Have you seen a spine specialist/surgeon?

That is my next step is to find a specialist soon,physio seems to be working far too slowly,but I do wish things moved along quicker than they have,still walking with a walker for now,not in any pain,but still not able to walk.

As you are losing the use of your right leg, I think you should be talking to one.

I am pleased to hear that you intend to find a specialist soon.Is your affected thigh muscle getting smaller than the other leg?I do hope that you see someone very soon.I believe the health system in Canada is similar to here in the UK where we have long waits too.Is the weakness in your leg improving, staying the same or getting worse?

It sounds like the medical team in the intensive rehab believed that your problems walking and having falls was due to your disc problem. I assume that they felt that this private physiotherapist would be able to solve the problem. Did they, or the private physiotherapist give you any idea of how long it would take to deal with the problem? Have they said what you should do if it doesn't improve and you continue to fall and be unable to walk unaided?

I wonder if you would be able to get another opinion. Here in the UK we can ask for a second opinion.I hope that you will find some help soon. Please let us know how you get on.

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